The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1887-01-27
Reprinted from FLoRIDIAx Of iSe6]
A Money Crep.
ARTICLE Ill.


ARTICLE III.
| Having the planta Get, a soon 20 they have
taken roo', say about ten days aftsr setting, 60
over the ridge with q garden rake o. light Doe,
breaking the crust. which win start them to
| growing. For the nrst culilvatiag % each eide
Of the row close as you dare with ibe bull tongue
| running Il deep. Thereafter cultivate % you
would corn or cotton bat In hoeng try and
| leave the surface covered with Loose din, which
acts a. q mulch, keeps the moisture from evapo.
raiing2 and The ground nom baking, admitting
mir to the roo's. consequently forwarding The
| growth. Cultivate often and so0n 40 you can
| aflrr beating rains
| In The beds and in the field ynu must watch
| for the bud worm, iOr after he cuts the heart
leaves your only remedy Is 10 break out The
heart. or top, as whole the size of pin head,
| will grow with the leaf II 10 question In my
mind II II pays the ordinary tobacco grower 10
| break out the bud unless very badly eaten as it
| causes the plant to mature late and makes irOu-
bile in harvesting, causing repeated cuttings.
The principal difference that 1t would cause in
| the value would he In the price Of o filler and
! wrapper Leaf. But The worm that viii liRhien
| your crop fastest Is the large green one. From
about The time you give your crop the first horse
working keep close watch for them, and do
not allow them to get ioothOld ON your patch,
Tor il they get the start of you there trouble
ahead. The only reliable remedy is TO pick
them by hand. Some years they are very lew,
and do not trouble early tobacco as much a.
| late. The best way 10 kill them is 10 give them
twist with thumb and f'reinger, which at first
is very repulsive but, like everything else. you
soon become accustomed to II. To find them
| you must turn up the leaves of each plant,
watching at the same time for eggs, which are
about the size OF pin head, and round, of q
| whitish color. You will soon be able to find
them readily, AS the eye becomes accustomed
| to 1t and catches them at glance You can
destroy them by pinchiug between the thumb
| nails.
You cannot be too vigilant about picking the
worms. So watch close, and when you find
| they need picking. do not deter it for another
day; az, should it rain "r anything intervene in
ihe interim, they may do much more damage
than the cost OF picking them for reason as q
hole in the leaf, though small It may be- spills
it for wrapper, which reduces it halt iu value
Admitting that you have kept of the worms;
ior, II you have not, you will have no tobacco;
the next cons deratiOn is, when to top? As q
rule it should be topped when it buttons, l. g.,
when the bud shows itself above the leaves to
put forth its blossom. That is when the average
"t the stalks button. There will be some that
have blosSomed. and some that will not show.
lou will need to regulate your topping accord
'ngly. But when doing it, leave none to be
topped afterwards, as some do, which necessi-
ia'es another cutting, and ctuses your sucker
crop I" come on unevenly, as il will be i'm the
same rotation.
The point 10 be observed IN topping is to top
1t 80 that il will ripen evenly. To do s0 you will
nerd To top stalk that has blOssOmed about four
leaves higher than one that has just buttoned;
leaving on more leaves for the stalk to mature
VIII make IL ripen with one topped in season.
81 with one that has not buitoned you will Top
lower, using your judgment AS to where; that it
may ripen with the other. In topping, we gen
orally leave about f'urreen leaves; if of good
growth can leave sixteen, but it may necesstate
more priming.
The next thing that viii demand your atten-
tion Will be The suckers that will shoot out ct the
base OF each leaf, which should not be allowed
to get longer than your fingers and will have TO
1'e broken out twice or three iimes before fipen-
ing an expert hand will do it quite fast, always
using caution about tearing leaves. Some prune
but will ieIi you L Is expensive and tedious.
| SPLITTING AND sTRINaING sM ALL CUBA LRAvEs
Printing will make your tobacco average =
| better quaiiiy; but unless you have some more
expeditions method of curing than splitting and
| s'rIneing on lath, il will be a question if it
pays, depending much upon what you have to
| do, facilities, etc.
| The next important con liberation is, when
Will II be ft to cut, which you will have TO de-
| cide ny your judgment in the appearance Of The
| leaves. as there is no positive rule with Cuba as
wllh Broad Leaf. which is proven by taking .
leaf and folding with the upper surface together
| and pinchDg the fold with thumb and forefinger,
the leaf will break aud cause a cracking sound
| Then 1t is fit to cut. But Cuba being softer
finer leaf, will not break, and must be Judged by
the color, which, when held up between yeu and
the sun, has moitled appearance, showing
more light in places than Others. But do not
wait for the topmOst leaves 10 become sO as IL is
better to cut a little green than Over-ripe.
Before the cutting season comes on you should
have all tools and fixtures in readiness. The
amount of which you will need will depend
| upon the amount of tobacco you have TO han
die If going into 1t largely rig your shed 30
| that you can drive in at one end and out at The
| other. You can then handle il very expedi-
| tiously by passing to the man or men in the
| building who hang the laths of tobacco on poles
| arranged for the purpose. spacing the distance
between laths according 10 the size Of your to-
bacon, letting the outer leaves touch slightly.
In cutting the best implement is pony saw
about one aud half feet in length. Take the
stalk in the lett hand, bent over slightly, and
with one two strikes of the saw IL Is OF cut
ting below all leaves Holding the stalk In the
left hand, lay it down carefully to avoid tearing
the leaves. In cutting 1t is good plan to COM
mence cutting about O'Clock in the afternoon,
80 that by sundOwn it may be wilied and pliable,
that il does not break or tear In handling but
do not cut more than you can string the next
morning by eight or half.past eight O'Clock,
as from that hour until halfpast or in the
evening IL will sunburn if left lying in the sun
and be worthless.
ject in two more articles.
C. HoJGHToN.
TALLAHASSEE. February 4, 1885,